Unsigned, it was included in the Tate retrospective of 1972 with the title and date given above. The exceptional size of the work suggests that it may have been painted with the Tate
exhibition in mind.

As Lynton has pointed out, the diminishing effect experienced in Parallel Forms, Orange is announced in the title of the present work. Here the shapes are stacked vertically rather than laid parallel to each other, an arrangement that accentuates the effects of diminution and recession. Lynton goes on to observe, ‘If the horizontal arrays of the still lifes, for all their exclusions, can suggest a well-laid table, these more abstract paintings suggest some sort of firmament, something unearthly.’

The painting was sent to the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York in time for the exhibition that opened in January 1973. It was returned to Scott in February the same year and stayed in his possession until given to the collectors who owned it at the time of writing.